Asia/Pacific

In Pakistan, religious and cultural controls over women intersect with technology, language barriers prevent intermediaries from addressing abuse, and justice has a slippery meaning. Using the voices and stories of three women survivors and research led by human rights organisation Bytes for All under APC’s “End violence: Women’s rights and safety online” project, this GenderIT.org edition explores various facets of technology-related violence against women in Pakistan.

The proposed Prevention of Electronic Crimes Bill poses serious threats to freedom of expression and privacy in Pakistan. To challenge it, a Charter of Demands has been developed by Bytes for All Pakistan, Media Matters for Democracy, and supporting organisations, APC among them.

On April 28, the police arrested Executive Director of EMPOWER Maria Chin Abdullah. Member of the BERSIH 2.0 Mandeep Singh was also brought in for questioning. Both were released on police bail after about an hour. They, along with Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tsin, are the latest targets of a wave of police investigations and arrests following Anwar Ibrahim’s incarceration and the Kita Lawan rallies.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA), together with its Pakistani member Bytes for All, strongly condemns the killing of Sabeen Mahmud. The groups also call on the government of Pakistan to ensure the protection of human rights defenders and bring perpetrators of the brutal murder of Sabeen Mahmud to justice.

As part of the Digital Empowerment Foundation (DEF), my colleague Ritu Srivastava and I I participated in an interactive session on Broadband for All organised at the RightsCon conference in Manila, Philippines.

We would like to express our concern on the declining standards of freedom of expression in Malaysia and the recent amendments introduced to the Sedition Act. The amendments also threaten freedom of expression online.